The blizzard raged across Wyoming Territory as a lone courier rode through blinding snow and battled subzero temperatures to bring reinforcements from Fort Laramie.

It was December 1866, just days before Christmas, and Fort Phil Kearny was in danger of being overrun by Red Cloud’s warriors.

The soldiers were in desperate need of additional soldiers to defend the fort, but the only way to send a message was by horse.

Capt. William J. Fetterman and 81 men had been massacred by Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho warriors, and General Henry B. Carrington needed to get the message out about the tragedy that had just happened.

After the veterans and soldiers of the fort refused to go, John “Portugee” Phillips volunteered to carry the message through dangerous territory.

It was said tha

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